All posts tagged: title insurance cost

Owner’s title insurance is like health insurance in that you never want to use it, but you’re glad to have it if you need it. But unlike health insurance, title insurance has a low, one-time premium that gives you a lifetime of coverage for a property.

Owner’s title insurance is different than other types of insurance because it’s not casualty insurance.

Title Insurance fees are regulated by the State of Florida. The base rate is $5.75 per thousand up to $100,000, and $5.00 per thousand thereafter up to $1 million. Check with your title company for specifics on discounts available for some transactions. Proper title endorsements to the policy are also a part of your complete coverage and those vary depending on the property. The base rate and the endorsements don’t come near the legal cost you’d have to pay to defend your ownership rights. And remember, you only have to pay the premium once for owner’s title insurance and you’re good for life.

Title insurance is good for all real estate ownership. If you are unsure whether or not you have title insurance on your inherited or gifted property, contact Land Title of America, Inc. at 1-904-797-9600, and we’ll be glad to check your title insurance status for free.

In the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and clean title to real estate, Title Insurance is the champion of your ownership rights! From easements to inheritance, no claim is too small or too large for an Owner’s Title Insurance Policy—your Title Insurance company is there to fight for you!!

Keepin’ It Real

Title Insurance puts the real in real estate. Should you have a claim against your deed, Title Insurance will meet the challenge to your ownership, providing the legal fees and the attorney to do battle in court if necessary. (Even if your court battle loses, you still get the policy amount.)

When you obtain property, don’t walk—fly to make sure you have the proper coverage to fully insure your real estate title!! It’s a one-time fee, normally paid at closing (but can be acquired at any time), and costs a lot less than hiring an attorney on your own.

Furthermore, Title Insurance is also a proactive measure as well as a defensive strategy. The cost includes a title search to address any questions in the chain of title that appear in public records. Once that’s done and any issues dealt with, then the policy insures against any questions that may arise in the future, but aren’t necessarily revealed in public records.

One good deed deserves another!

And later when you convey your property to a new owner, your Title Insurance policy continues to protect you from possible challenges for which a new owner could hold you liable.

Title Insurance – It’s good for now, it’s good for later, it’s good for what happened in the past, and it’s good for you!!

The perception of Title Insurance is that for every $100 that gets paid into the pot, only $6 of that gets paid out. The reality is that for every $100 paid in, $94 goes into making sure no more than $6 will have to go towards a title claim.

While Title Insurance takes on the financial responsibility for title-related issues, that financial responsibility is limited to the policy amount—the cost is much greater than what’s covered. The power of Title Insurance is the preventative work that goes into it.

Title Insurance is NOT casualty insurance—Title Insurance is PREVENTATIVE insurance.

Coverage:

Title Insurance coverage is unique because it reaches both forwards and backwards at the same time to protect the homeowner.

Title Insurance is good from the beginning day of the policy backwards. It covers everything that happened before the real estate acquisition, including all unforeseen title flaws, and the policy pays for litigation should someone challenge the ownership through a lien, claim, or taxes.* Thus the coverage protects the homeowner during their ownership of the property and for everything that happened before they took title.

Title Insurance insures the homeowner’s financial interest forwards into the future, even protecting them after they sell that property. Because the Contract for Purchase and Sale typically requires the Seller to convey ownership with warranties, the Seller becomes responsible for anything that has ever transacted on the property. Thus the homeowner retains liability for their link in the Chain of Title even after they sell. A Title Insurance Policy protects the homeowner for as long as that person has a financial liability to the property…which is until death.

Service:

The Title Insurance company’s objective is in lockstep with the consumer’s best interest: to avoid questions or challenges of the homeowner’s title. Owner’s Title Insurance is primarily for prevention of claims against home ownership, and a title search is part of the risk assessment. Thus in the examination of public records, the title company has a vested concern to find any and all complications to the ownership title, in fact to kick the proverbial sleeping dog…on purpose. We’d rather find out now (rather than after the fact) whether or not that dog has teeth and a temperament for biting.

Though Title Insurance works mostly through prevention, it offers security via financial protection from the massive costs of litigation and other legal expenses should a problem, challenge, or complication to a Florida homeowner’s title arise. No matter how much effort is put into this prevention, bad things still happen. It’s expensive to be right when someone thinks you’re wrong. (Just remember, another person’s perception is reality.) Owner’s Title Insurance provides and pays for all costs associated with a title claim (whether through settlement, legal defense, and / or reimbursement of the policy amount to the homeowner if that defense does not prevail).

Cost:

The cost of Owner’s Title Insurance is promulgated by the State of Florida, and the current rate has been the same for over 20 years. It is a nominal fee compared to litigation costs. Furthermore, Owner’s Title insurance is a one-time fee, typically paid at the closing of a real estate transaction. Once it’s paid, it’s paid—no monthly premiums, no annual fees—no additional charge to the consumer, the homeowner.

With Owner’s Title Insurance, consumers pay a set amount for financial protection against the unknown cost of hidden risk to home ownership.

The Big Picture:

Title Insurance plays a vital role in Florida’s recovering housing market. As a source of financial protection, Owner’s Title Insurance assures potential Florida buyers they can invest in real estate with stable value backing that investment.

Any further questions, tune into “Land Title Talk,” on the First and Third Thursday of each month from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. on 102.1 FM WFOY (http://www.1021news.com). Please call or text during the show to comment or ask about real estate-related issues.

Some people have plenty of money, are self-insured—I’m not worried about them because they can afford to take the risk. For the rest of us though, a little bit of money spent on title insurance can go a long way.

Title Insurance fees are regulated by the State of Florida. The base rate is $5.75 per thousand up to $100,000 and $5.00 per thousand thereafter up to $1 million. The bottom line is that it’s a one-time fee at closing that protects you for as long as you or your heirs have an interest in the property. It pays valid claims and covers the cost of a legal defense of your ownership. And it’s a lot cheaper than paying for an attorney yourself.

Don’t know if you’ve had to hire a lawyer lately, but it’s dang expensive! Not every homeowner is going to come up against a question of their home ownership, but it’s a big risk if you don’t have title insurance.

For a little bit of money up front, never to bill you again, you can buy an owner’s title insurance policy that insures you into the future for the faults of the past, even protecting you after you sell that property through all past hidden claims. You have that fee, versus the risk of financially defending yourself on your own.

Insure yourself, it’s cheaper than you think when compared to the risk.

True or False: Is Title Insurance one of the kinds of insurances that never has to pay?

The answer is False

The job of a title insurance company is to look at the property, deal with title problems, and assess the risk. They try to minimize that risk with a thorough title search, a search of public records, looking for anyone else who might have ownership rights or interest in the property.

I have a story for every question. I’ve been in the business long enough that I can give you an example for every situation, often more than one, but I’ll limit myself to one here.

There was a lady who wanted a trust created, but she was mad at her family and wanted to give her house to the guy who had been so nice and had taken such good care of her. When she died, he got the house, and sure enough, her kids challenged his ownership. They sued him for what they felt was their rightful inheritance.

Even though the guy had gotten the house free and clear, he did not have the money to defend himself in a court of law against their claim. Fortunately he had gotten a title insurance policy on the house, and that policy paid his court cost. Completely.

Yes the title insurance company did pay out on the policy. It happens more often than you think.

Stephen CollinsTrue or False: Does Title Insurance Never Have to Pay?04.06.2011

About Us

Land Title of America, Inc. is a corporation owned and managed by Stephen Collins, of the Collins family, which has provided superior service for title insurance and real estate closings in St. Augustine and St. Johns County for over 30 years. Read more